Lyra’s Positive Birth Story
Ele and Alan’s Empowered Birth with Hypnobirthing
Ele and Alan took part in one of my online Group Hypnobirthing courses during Covid. They faced some unexpected challenges when in the system, challenges that shouldn't have happened. However, being knowledgeable and empowered helped Alan advocate for Ele and ultimately protect her space and her birth experience. Huge testament to the power of knowledge and understanding your rights.
Unexpected Turns and Early Contractions
We are extremely happy to tell you we are home with our baby; we named her Lyra. She was born on Sunday the 13th of December.
We also wanted to thank you as what we learned turned out to be even more useful than we could expect. As I had mentioned last time, I emailed you we had a few issues in the last week when the consultants realised I should have been seen earlier in the pregnancy as I had a few abdominal surgeries that meant that if I needed a C section it would have been fairly complicated for the doctors. So the plan was for me to go to the consultant led unit instead of midwife lead when the time came.
Between Friday and Saturday night I started having contractions, we went to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to check how we were getting on and I was sent home after they checked I was only 2cm. They gave me some co-codamol to help with the pain that I used but by 3 in the morning the pain was too much, so we went back to the hospital and the midwife was quite surprised to find I was 7cm then... I had done most of the work at home breathing through contractions. At this point I was in the midwife led unit as the consultant led was full. I had no issues with that as the plan was to have a natural birth and both baby and I were happy, so both Alan and I settled in the room I got some Entonox to help with the pain, Alan massaged my back and we got into a very positive space.
Advocating for Our Birth Plan
Then a couple of hours later the midwife came in to let us know that the consultant wanted me to go on continuous monitoring and for me to move to the consultant led now that there was space. The midwife had read my birth plan and knew I did not want monitoring that meant I could not move around so she supported me when I said no. We also questioned why we needed to move, the only issue for my pregnancy would have been with a C section and after asking questions the only difference was an extra 2 minutes to get to theatre and the fact that the consultant would have to walk to me... so we said no to moving and the monitoring.
We thought that was that and went back into our positive space but the consultant actually came to see us as she thought it would be better for me to move but there was no real clinical reason for either the monitoring or moving so after seeing I was getting annoyed Alan asked for some time to speak alone and we agreed to keep going as we were and accept the risks if any intervention was needed.
The midwives were extremely supportive of my decisions and advocated for me with the doctors and they did tell me that if my birth plan had not been as clear about my choices it would have been a very different situation. Having everything in writing made it clear to them that I had done my research and I knew what I wanted and that way they managed to support me fully.
We got back into our positive space; I kept using the gas and breathed through the contractions until it was time for Lyra to come out. The second stage lasted just 12 minutes and she came out completely peaceful, she did not cry until a few hours later. The midwife that delivered the baby was also a hypnobirthing instructor and told me Lyra was a textbook hypnobirthing baby.
We spent loads of time skin to skin after and I can say labour and birth were an amazing experience, after I was done, I felt a sense of achievement and I was so proud of me and Alan for getting through it in our own terms. I definitely did not feel I would not want to do it again like my mum did when she had me.
I’m so grateful for everything you have taught us
I’m so grateful for everything you have taught us
I’m so grateful for everything you have taught us and for empowering us to make informed decisions and not just accept whatever clinicians thought was best. Without the course I most probably would have ended up on a monitoring machine not able to move as much and probably needing a lot more interventions.
Thank you,
Ele, Alan and Lyra
- Ele and Alan: Group Hypnobirthing Course